Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FREDERICK HENRY HEDGE, D.D. ON HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY, by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: What lapse or accident of time Last Line: His mellowest music be his last. Subject(s): Birthdays; Hedge, Frederick Henry (1805-1890); Life; Youth | ||||||||
WHAT lapse or accident of time Can dull that soul's sonorous chime Which owns the priceless heritage -- Youth's summer warmth in wintry age? The gods can grant no rarer boon Than heart with mind in genial tune, Through a long life's vicissitudes Unjarred by chances and by moods; A soul elastic and unworn Whose eve retains the smile of morn; And all the poesy of youth Is wedded to the soul of truth. So have I seen the Alpine glow On hoary pinnacles of snow, While many a younger wilderness Of woods beneath lay colorless And darkling in the twilight sky, Touched by no sunset alchemy. For some there are whose youth is old Long ere their youthful blood grows cold; And some in age so young that time, Deceived, still sees them in their prime. No form or face that prophesied A strength to after years denied -- No spirit lost in aims that seem The cloud-land of a worldly dream -- No head discrowned -- no incomplete And slackened course to-day we greet In him whose fourscore years have spanned The gulfs of fact and wonder-land; -- Who brought the seeds of Europe's lore To fertilize our western shore; -- By pastoral care, by voice and pen Toiling to serve his fellow-men; Who early stood in freedom's van, And with forecasting eye outran The cloudy creeds that long obscured The light to later days assured. What claim of youth by word or deed Can e'er dislodge or supersede The royal right to place and fame Earned by long years of earnest aim, Of learning deep, of vision wide, Of wisdom to fit speech allied; While all along their downward trend Youth's earlier lights his steps attend? Still in the gloaming of his day Lingers the glow that mocks decay. Friend, poet, scholar, teacher, sage! Unshadowed by the mists of age, Long may the generous faith and thought, The lights from the ideal caught, That guided and inspired his youth, Shine clearer toward the perfect truth. And like some minster tower whose grand Melodious bells ring o'er the land, His voice be heard when daylight fails Across the darkened hills and vales; And ere night's pall be o'er him cast, His mellowest music be his last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BETWEEN THE WARS by ROBERT HASS THE GOLDEN SHOVEL by TERRANCE HAYES ALONG WITH YOUTH by ERNEST HEMINGWAY THE BLACK RIVIERA by MARK JARMAN CORRESPONDENCES; HEXAMETERS AND PENTAMETERS by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH |
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